Depending on the Context

A/N: This falls post Pirate Day and before Flannel Pyjamas. My beta's not back for two more days, so possible errors once again. Please review no matter what you think. I love you guys. Read on!!

"Mom!"

Lorelai lifted her head from Luke's chest lazily. "Living room, babe," she called back. She'd been lying on the couch in her husband's arms for a good two hours. She could sense her daughter's excitement, so she shifted and sat up a little as Rory burst into the room. Rory was still wearing her scarf and mittens, but she'd discarded her coat and boots at the door. She was grinning. Lorelai smiled. "Honey, what's up?"

"I have news," Rory informed her joyfully, sitting in the chair across from them as she pulled off her mitts. "Hey, Luke," she added.

"Hey," he replied, knowing better than to get involved. The way Rory looked, he was pretty sure there would be hugging and squealing.

"Don't leave me in suspense," Lorelai scolded, reaching over to hit her daughter's knee.

"On June fifteenth, guess where I'll be going?"

Lorelai's eyes lit up. "Ooh! To that thing in the place!"

"What?"

Lorelai shrugged. "You know, that thing they're having and everybody's getting all excited."

"I'm sorry. Was I actually supposed to understand that."

"Yes, actually, I thought we had some sort of freakish bond. Apparently, I was wrong. Continue."

"Asia!" Rory cried.

"The chick you won that Pussycat Doll thing?" Lorelai asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

Rory rolled her eyes. "The continent, Mom."

"Yes, dear," Lorelai said with her own eye-roll. "I was teasing." She paused, "Oh my God, you guys are actually going? Logan can get away from Daddy dearest and everything?"

Rory nodded enthusiastically. "For a whole month. We're going to Japan and China and Korea and a whole bunch of other places…I'm so excited, Mom!"

"I can tell, honey. I'm excited for you."

Rory beamed back at her and Lorelai bit her lip.

"What?" Rory asked. "What's wrong?"

"Actually…it's kind of the opposite of wrong," Lorelai told her, glancing at Luke.

"The opposite of wrong? As in right?" Rory asked teasingly, settled back into the chair a little.

"Um, yeah, you could say that. I mean, it's not bad, it's good, and good is pretty close to right…right?"

"Depending on the context, yeah."

Lorelai threw her hands into the air playfully. "I love her, I raise her, I send her to Yale and then she throws sentences at me like, 'depending on the context'."

"I'm pretty sure I've said that to you before."

"Yeah, when you were like ten, but that was just weird. Now you're all educated so it makes sense for you to know things."

Rory stared at her in admiration and confusion. "You're crazy."

Lorelai frowned. "Be nice to mommy."

Rory smiled and said, "I'm sorry, you're my favourite mother ever."

"And…"

"Oh, God! Are you two?"

Lorelai pressed her lips together and waited.

Rory sighed, resigned. "And grandma sucks," she said in a monotone. "Which I don't believe, by the way. Grandma's done a lot for me."

"Yeah, cause she likes you."

"She likes you, too," Rory told her in a 'duh' tone.

"Rory, sweetheart. Love of my life. My mother may love me due to biological connections, but the woman has never liked me."

"Mom, you guys aren't that different. You're her only child, just like I'm yours. You must be able to feel some sort of bond there."

Lorelai bit her lip again, looking a bit apprehensive.

Rory didn't notice. She turned to Luke apologetically. "I'm sorry, Luke, we must be driving you crazy. You can go, if you want."

He smiled at her and got up to leave, but Lorelai held him back. "Um, no. He needs to stay."

"Oh. Okay."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Listen, Rory. Remember how, earlier, before we got distracted, I was telling you I had something good to tell you?"

"Right, the right thing. Yeah, I remember."

"Okay, so…I'm going to tell you now."

"Okay."

She took another quick breath. "Any minute now," she said, offering a nervous smile.

Luke clued in. "Do you want me…to…"

She shot him a grateful smile. "Thank you, babe," she said softly. "But I have to do this. You understand why."

"Of course."

Rory looked back and forth between the two, her brow furrowing. "What's going on?" When she got no answer, she appealed to her father-figure, "Luke?"

"I'm sorry, your Mom's gotta take this one."

"Mom, come on. You can tell me. It's good news, right?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah, baby, it is," Lorelai said gently, and her words alerted something in Rory. Lorelai rarely called her 'baby'. She regularly called Rory 'honey', 'sweets', and 'babe', but she tended to only use the word 'baby' when one of them was a little upset about something or they were joking around.

"Mom?"

Lorelai saw the confusion in her daughter's eyes and knew that she just had to say it. "Rory, honey…" she reached out to tuck Rory's hair away from her eyes habitually. She took one last deep breath and said, "Sweets, I'm pregnant."

She watched her daughter apprehensively, aware of how much thicker the air had suddenly gotten. To be honest, since she'd found out for sure two days before, she hadn't considered Rory's reaction, and now, she was really unsure of what it would be. Whenever they'd discussed Lorelai's having more kids in the past, it had usually just been in a joking manner. Lorelai had never sat her daughter down and said, "Honey, how would you feel if I had another baby?" And now, she really wished she had.

Rory's eyes widened and her mouth formed a small 'o'. Seconds later, she uttered the same sound, "Oh." She seemed to be scanning her brain for something to say, and finally ended up with a painfully hesitant, "Congratulations."

"Rory," Lorelai said immediately, reaching out to her daughter.

"That's…wow. Wow. When did you…"

"A couple days ago," Lorelai said softly. "I had to tell you in person."

"Yeah, of course. But I didn't know you were…" she added, her blue eyes hurt that that information had been kept from her.

"No! No, sweets, we weren't. It's…completely accidental. But, you know, I'm not exactly getting any younger, and we were pretty sure that we did want kids…"

"Right."

"Luke," Lorelai said softly. He nodded and got up, touching her should gently as he left the room.

"Okay, kid, talk to me."

"I'm…going to be a big sister."

"Yes. And, Rory, please, I really need you to tell me how you feel about that."

"It's not exactly like you can undo it, Mom," Rory told her.

"Is that what you'd want?" Lorelai asked hurriedly.

"No! That's not what I'm saying! I'm happy, I am, I just…wow. I mean, I'm glad, you guys are meant to be, and Luke should have kids, and I know you want more kids…"

"Rory, honey, listen to me. This is not going to change anything between us."

"Mom."

"No, I'm serious! We are still…you and me. The Gilmore girls. You are still my kid and my best friend and so important to me."

"I know," Rory said softly.

"I don't want you to be upset."

"I'm not," Rory said quickly. "I'm just a little shocked."

Lorelai pulled Rory from the chair and down onto the couch next to her. She lifted and arm and allowed her daughter to settle into her embrace. She pushed Rory's hair back and kissed her forehead. "You'll always be my baby girl, no matter what." She leaned down, trying to look into Rory's eyes. "Hey, can I tell you something?"

Rory nodded against her mother's shoulder. She was playing with the tassels on her scarf, which was still around her neck.

"I think it's a boy," Lorelai whispered conspiratorially.

"Mom, you can't know that."

"But I do," Lorelai insisted stubbornly. "Besides, I can't have a girl. What'm I going to name her? You got the best name."

"Yeah, I did," her daughter agreed quietly.

Lorelai kissed Rory's forehead again.

"Hey, Mom?" Rory asked softly.

"Yeah, babe?"

"When I throw you a baby shower, I'm going to make sure that everything's green and that we eat devilled eggs."

"But what will we do if we can't throw them on Jess' car?" Lorelai asked, smiling warmly.

Her daughter sighed against her shoulder, and Lorelai was reminded of Rory as a baby, a bundle of warmth settled into her arms. "There's always Taylor," Rory murmured.

(Part Two)

Six months later…

"Your mom?" Logan asked as she flipped her cell phone closed. She'd been pacing around the room, trying to get the best reception possible. Despite Japan's technological achievements, her stupid cell phone still refused to work well in their hotel room.

She smiled at him. "Yeah. She finally caved and found out the sex. It's a boy."

He smiled right back. "Is she happy?"

"Very," Rory nodded, throwing her cell phone back into her bag.

He hugged her from behind, pressing gentle kisses on her neck. "And what about you, are you happy?"

She turned around and laid down on the bed, pulling him over her. "You know, I think I actually am. I'm getting used to the idea of having a sibling."

"Are you happy it's a boy?" he asked.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just thought you might be happy that you're still her only girl."

She glanced down and admitted, "I guess, deep down, I am." She began playing with the buttons on his shirt, and he knew she wanted to stop talking about it anymore.

He smiled at her. "Ace, if we do this again, I'm going to have to take another shower, and I don't think the water pressure can hold up."

She laughed happily. "I'm tired, anyway."

He smirked. "I tired you out?"

"Logan," she sighed.

"I'm sorry, babe, you just make it too easy." He moved from on top of her to beside her, allowing her to cuddle into his arms. She flattened her hand against his chest almost automatically. Searching for the steady, reassuring beat of his heart was a habit of hers.

They were quiet for a few minutes, just lying there together. The window was open a little, and they could hear the dim sounds of traffic and life outside of their hotel room.

Logan kissed head. "Rory?" he asked softly, sounding more serious than he normally did.

She felt her eyes drifting closed. "Hm?"

"Ace, I…do you…see us getting married?"

She kept her eyes closed and just smiled against his chest. "Yes," she breathed.

He sighed. "Rory, I'm not proposing right now, but I want to marry you. I want…to have kids. I want to have kids with you, and I want to be there for everything." He held his breath.

Her eyes snapped open and she just stared at his probing brown eyes for a moment.

"Ace?" he asked, gently touching her cheek, and she realized that tears had spilled down them.

"Me, too," she whispered, kissing him firmly. She was surprised when he returned the kiss with more force and flipped them over so that he was lying over her again.

"Logan," she whispered, "What about the water pressure?"

"I think it'll be back up by morning, don't you?" he asked as he pulled back to look at her.

She smiled. "Morning, huh?"

"What? You don't think you can make it?"

She laughed out loud, the sound filling the entire room. "Oh, I can. But what about you, you old softie? Can you?" She reached up to touch his face. "Thank you," she said softly, and he understood what she meant.

"You're welcome," he said just as quietly, kissing her delicately.

She pulled back slightly to glance at the clock. "Six hours until sunrise, Huntzberger," she told him with a single arched eyebrow.

"You underestimate me, Ace," he countered, leering playfully.

She nodded, eyes a dark blue and serious. "Yeah, I do, live-in-the-moment man."

He reached over to turn off the light and sighed dramatically. "I'll just have to prove you wrong, then."

A/N: You know what would be so much fun right now? Reviewing my story!